Brazil legends Carlos & Gilberto to play in Sussex

For fans of certain generations, the sight of Brazil’s Roberto Carlos taking a few short steps before bursting into a long run-up and smashing a powerful, curling, swirling free-kick beyond a helpless goalkeeper with the outside of his lethal left foot is one of the most iconic in the history of football.

This weekend, supporters at the 3,000-capacity Dripping Pan will be hoping to see just that.

The former Real Madrid left-back, now 51, takes on his World Cup-winning team-mate and ex-Arsenal midfielder Gilberto Silva in a charity match in the Sussex town of Lewes.

Playing as team captains, the Brazil legends will find out who is drawn from a list of players including ex-Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann and striker Jeremie Aliadiere, as well as former Aston Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov.

Carlos and Gilberto are co-founders of Striver, a social media app designed to prevent the sharing of abusive material, along with Sussex-based tech entrepreneur Tim Chase.

Chase has lost six friends to suicide, the most recent just four weeks ago, and Sunday’s match will be raising money for the suicide prevention charity Campaign Against Living Miserably [CALM].

“We wanted to put on an amazing event to raise money for charity and to give the people who are there an unbelievable day,” Chase, who will also play in the match, said.

“It’s going to be interactive – the FA Cup-style draw was an idea from a fan.

“There are going to be people in the crowd who have lost family members to suicide.

“If there’s someone there on Sunday and they want to reach out and talk to someone then we could potentially save a life.”

Chase first met Gilberto at a conference and their friendship grew from there. He describes the former Arsenal ‘Invincible’ title winner, who is godfather to one of Chase’s children, as like a brother.

Chase had already had the idea for creating an abuse-free social media app and when Gilberto introduced him to three-time Champions League winner Carlos, the three of them decided to launch Striver.

The app is designed to use artificial intelligence (AI) to detect abusive content and prevent it from publishing, as opposed to moderators removing it later.

Harry Maguire and Sol Campbell are among its ambassadors.

Gilberto, 48, moved to Arsenal from Atletico Mineiro in his native Brazil shortly after winning the World Cup in 2002.

He made 244 appearances and scored 24 goals for the Gunners, winning two FA Cups and one Premier League title in six years in north London.

The midfielder made 32 appearances as Arsenal went the entire 2003-04 league season unbeaten.

Petrov, 45, spent seven seasons at Villa Park and is Bulgaria’s most-capped player of all time having played in 105 internationals.

Carlos spent 11 trophy-laden seasons with Real during the club’s ‘Galaticos’ era, playing alongside the likes of Raul, Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham.

He won four La Liga titles and three Champions League crowns with Los Blancos, making 527 appearances and scoring 70 goals.

The StriveAid match, which takes place at 18:30 GMT on Sunday, will be streamed live on TikTok, YouTube and Twitch.